


Snapshots

by blueteak



Category: Grantchester (TV)
Genre: Character of Faith, Establishing Relationship, M/M, Period Typical Attitudes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-19
Updated: 2017-08-19
Packaged: 2018-12-17 05:11:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,394
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11844624
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blueteak/pseuds/blueteak
Summary: Leonard gets recognition of his relationship from an unexpected person.





	Snapshots

**Author's Note:**

  * For [bold_seer](https://archiveofourown.org/users/bold_seer/gifts).



Mrs. M (or Mrs. C, now) would never prepare an intimate dinner for Daniel and Leonard the way she had for Leonard and Hilary. There was no expectation on her part that there could ever be a “something more” for them that she would have to shoo Sidney away from (Leonard could hardly believe it himself). However, Leonard was sure she knew what they were to one another. 

It wasn’t something they discussed. Leonard knew she couldn’t approve. It was the way she didn’t officially disapprove that oddly warmed his heart more than Sidney's support, which he'd somewhat expected, or Geordie's encouragement, which he definitely had not. 

Leonard had noticed first that despite the parade of eligible women Geordie tried to fix Sidney up with, Mrs. C never asked why someone wasn’t doing the same for Leonard. She didn’t feign ignorance of what Daniel was to Leonard by suggesting he try to find another woman to court, or, worse yet, ask Leonard in front of Daniel about any other marriage prospects. 

Over time, however, she did more than just not condemn Leonard or Leonard and Daniel’s relationship. It happened when Sidney became ill over Christmas. It had got to the point where his sneezing was so loud at the service that it drowned out the lines in the Nativity (which Leonard had not minded, considering that once again this year, the Three Wise Men spent quite a lot of time talking about how they needed to go to the toilet in addition to expressing joy and wonder over the Lord’s birth). 

Sidney had said that he would be fine, but Mrs. C had nevertheless cancelled the trip to Scotland that she had planned with Jack. “He’s not like us, Leonard,” she’d said in response to a question Leonard hadn’t asked. “He doesn’t have a someone to come take care of him anymore.” He’d almost hugged her then. Possibly sensing his intention, she’d quickly taken up an enormous pair of knitting needles. She was either trying to avoid the appearance of sentimentality or she hadn't meant to phrase it that way. Both could be true. However, Leonard thought, even if she had not meant to say it, she thought it. And that counted.

In the end, Leonard felt enough guilt (though not from Mrs. C, he’d been quick to inform Daniel), that he had decided to remain home as well in order to give Mrs. C some relief. Geordie could, of course, be counted on to help keep Sidney alive and taking at least some fluids other than whiskey, but since he had reconciled with Cathy, none of them wanted the entire Keating household to come down with Sidney's illness. 

Daniel, finding the prospect of spending time in a post-Christmas holiday cabin he’d meant to share with Leonard less than appealing (though he could have taken some outstanding photos) had elected to remain in Grantchester as well. And so the two couples had taken care of Sidney, playing monopoly with him in his room and taking steaming bowls of soup up to him more often than he would have liked. At their own supper, Jack sat across from Mrs. C and Daniel sat across from Leonard. When Sidney felt well enough to join them, he sat at the head. It had felt lovely, but also like living inside a bubble that could burst with a strong enough gust of winter wind.

It wouldn’t have been fair to say that it was only Mrs. C who held the power to burst that bubble. Leonard had his own concerns. Less about whether or not things could work on a personal level with Daniel--they gave one another the courage to act on their best instincts and were also well past the days where Daniel thought he would wait "forever" for physical intimacy. Leonard knew that Daniel was now entirely conscious of how well worth his while it was to be patient. 

However, what Leonard feared Daniel might be less patient with was Leonard's relationship with the church. The "forever" Daniel might not be able to live with this time was the unremitting pressure that came from Leonard's being part of an institution that, as Daniel had once said, would "Preach one way of life and live entirely the other." Indeed, it was something Leonard still struggled with, on his own behalf and in watching Sidney mourn his relationship with Amanda. He knew that Sidney felt he had made the correct decision, difficult though it had been. Leonard still hoped things wouldn't get to the point where he would feel forced to make a choice of his own. 

Leonard still felt called, still felt Jesus working through him when he was granted the ability to sit in mourning with a parishioner or counsel a couple, or be present with Mrs. C when something reminded her of Ronnie. And he knew Daniel's feelings about telling him what to do, knew Daniel would never suggest that he had to resign. And yet, Leonard worried. Was this worry over Daniel being willing to stay with a vicar a legitimate concern, or was he suspecting trouble where there wasn't really any? It was possible he would try to find a way to discuss it with Sidney. Well, he would try.

In terms of other dangers to his relationship and/or profession that were definitely real, the village essentially suspected (especially after Daniel had been taken ill after nursing Sidney, at which point Leonard had gone to stay with his “friend” for a few days. Just to be sure the illness was entirely eradicated, mind) and there could come a point where they tired of suspecting and decided to try to have him run out of town. Though Leonard didn't want to believe it could be true, he knew that the person he counseled one day could turn on him the next. Perhaps even by blaming him for the disappearance of a little boy, as had happened with Daniel. 

Though Leonard struggled to talk as openly with Sidney about it as he would wish to, that wasn’t to say that Sidney couldn’t tell when Leonard had his moments of doubt and fear. There might have been a tense conversation with the bishop or a word whispered under the breath of a schoolboy. A parent expressing reservation, even in a kind tone of voice, about leaving Leonard alone with her child. Almost always, Sidney would find a way to just walk with Leonard and listen to whatever he felt comfortable sharing. Sidney almost always also found a way to include 1 John 4:7, Proverbs 17:17, or 1 Peter 4:8 in his homilies on these occasions as well, which may not have led to many direct apologies to Leonard or Daniel, but occasionally netted them a look of chagrin.

Still, though Sidney helped as much as Leonard felt he could allow him, it was Mrs. C who helped Leonard see how Daniel saw him and gave him more strength to fight for their future together. 

He’d been showing off some holiday snaps (they had wound up in Wales in May after the cancelled Christmas holiday) that he felt were safe to show her (not that any were in any way indecent, but Leonard steered clear of any photos featuring the two of them together, even though she knew they had gone together) and she’d paused for a moment over one Daniel had taken of Leonard on Cader Idris. It wasn’t an especially impressive picture but for the mountain, Leonard thought. After all, he was just next to it smiling too wide with his hair blowing this way and that, something Mrs. C might choose to comment on, even if she chose to do it half-heartedly. Instead, she said “That man has a gift. I’ve never seen you look more yourself.” 

Now, Mrs. C hadn’t gone as far as to say “Your man” and she would likely argue that the only gift she had meant was the gift of photography if anyone were to ask. But looking more closely at how Daniel had captured him, Leonard knew she meant more than that. His smile, which he had thought too wide, was genuine. He wasn't in any way trying to avoid the camera. He looked happy, contented. And he was, he realized. He was.


End file.
